Malec Chosen Big West co-Player of the Week

May 09, 2005

May 9, 2005

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
UC Santa Barbara senior shortstop Chris Malec was selected the baseball co-Player of the Week by the Big West Conference, it was announced today.

Malec helped the Gauchos win two out of three games from visiting Long Beach State, the 10th-ranked team in the country, over the weekend. He came off the bench in the first game of the series, entering as a defensive replacement at shortstop, but he started the final two games. On Saturday, he belted a decisive grand slam home run, his fifth round-tripper of the season, and he also walked. On Sunday, the Laguna Niguel, Calif., native had a double and another walk.

On Friday, Malec returned to action after missing 10 games following a diagnosis of testicular cancer. Malec had surgery on April 14, and was not expected to return until UCSB's series against UC Irvine which starts May 20. Following his first chemotherapy session, however, Malec felt strong and returned ahead of schedule.